Obama vs. the other guy, 2008

McCain Planning “Surprise” Tomorrow

Notwithstanding Bob Novak backing off his VP pronouncments for McCain, there does seem to be increasing buzz about a Thursday surprise.

Sen. Barack Obama’s planned speech in Berlin is expected to lead the political news on Thursday, but there are some indications Sen. John McCain’s campaign might be planning a surprise announcement.

First, he cancels his press availability on Wednesday.

Then, he cancels a previously unannounced trip to an off-shore oil rig in Louisiana.

And now he abruptly changes his schedule to appear in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday. The press wasn’t told until the campaign plane was on the tarmac.

Halperin also had a major VP tease on his site. Could it be happening for McCain? I wouldn’t put it past him to do something so rash and short-sighted, but it is clear he is having a terrible week, when even mother nature is conspiring against him.

Still, I’m skeptical he would blow the only remaining event he can control just to get himself into the news. And he has teased the media (and duped one soon-to-be convicted criminal reporter) about this already. We shall see.

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If McCain’s campaign feels that he can lose the election this week, they may feel that they have no choice. They probably a repeat of 1980 (except with Obama’s in Reagan’s place) where it was relatively close until September, and then Reagan rolled all over Carter.

They may fear that if they wait until the end of August – the most logical time to announce their VP choice – it may already be too late.

But, Obama’s campaign should not ignore it – and should mention it during the debate. It will get more coverage that way!

By the way, I think it’d be stupid on McCain’s part to announce his VP pick because most of the media would package it unfavorably. They would say things like, “to tamper down a bad week of…gaffes…bad luck…oil rig spill…, McCain has announced his VP pick.”

In politics, bad press really is bad press. Although it would be great for Obama’s campaign for McCain to announce a VP today, it’d be pretty dumb. And, frankly, I think that the GOP would substitute McCain for someone else and would have a pretty good excuse to do so.

About Strategy ’08

Strategy ’08 is a new blog dedicated to covering issues surrounding the 2008 Presidential Campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain. Authors are long-time bloggers and unabashed Barack Obama supporters dansac, slinkerwink, turneresq, zenbowl, smash artist and gdh1 who often post on DailyKos and elsewhere.